Inside The Collection: Weekly Curator Picks

A popular request from Pandora listeners, Arstidir are a vocal-based acoustic ensemble from Reykjavik with a sound unique to the Icelandic music scene mixing influences such as progressive rock, indie, chamber music, and traditional Icelandic folk music. All six members are distinguished players known from various bands in the Reykjavik scene and, since their formation in 2008, have released two records praised by critics, had two number-one hits on Icelandic radio, and have played sold out venues all over Europe.

Eddie Jeffreys, aka Moody Good, got his start as half of dubstep duo 16bit. Stepping out of the mold he crafts a recording that weaves bass, R&B, ambient, hip hop and more into a dystopian web of sound that The Guardian says “someone like Bjork might enjoy”. Which makes sense, as 16bit contributed significantly to Bjork’s Biophilia!

Singer, drag queen and television personality, most known for appearing on the seventh season of American Idol and the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Adore Delano is currently dominating the Dance and Pop charts with the release of her debut album Till Death Do Us Party. Her music has been described as “Britney Spears with a real personality, actual vocal talent and lucidness. Or Gwen Stefani unconcerned with radio play and chart positions. Delano has a rich, raspy tone that takes the material to surprisingly soulful places. She’s alternately hopeful and heartbroken, forceful and fragile.”

Eddie Brnabic & The Cosmic Fellowship play instrumental acid-rock in the retro stylings of Earthless. Besides being an amazingly dexterous guitarist, Brnabic displays great taste in tone. You can almost smell the dust burning off his amp’s tubes as he pushes his gear to its maximum limits!

If making Billboard history with the hit single “Let It Go” from Frozen wasn’t enough, the wicked-ly talented star Idina Menzel did it again with the release of the Original Broadway Cast recording of the new musical If/Then, the highest debut for a cast recording since Rent in 1995 (which she also starred in!). Written by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning Next To Normalwriters Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, this contemporary new musical follows two distinct storylines in the life of Elizabeth, a city planner who moves back to New York to restart her life in this city of infinite possibilities. The cast also includes Broadway favorites LaChanze (Tony Award-winner for The Color Purple) and Anthony Rapp (original cast of Rent).

Having spent the last two decades in the spotlight as one of the primary powerhouses of the traditional gospel genre, vocalist Beverly Crawford is back with her seventh solo album Thank You For All You’ve Done. Recorded live at Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, the upbeat tone of the album is set with the first song, a rousing remake of The Caravans’ “Sweeping Through The City,” which also serves as the album’s lead single in addition to a reprise of her 1995 debut hit “Jesus, Precious King”.

Originally from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, the norteño quartet known as Calibre 50 has enjoyed increasing success in the realm of Regional Mexican music since their debut in 2010, with a mix of unapologetic corridos and ballads of unrequited love. Their latest release Contigo continues in this tradition and is a certified number one on the Regional Mexican album charts, marking their most successful debut to date. The lead single “Tus Latidos” is a declaration of frustrated love and longing in the age of social networks.

This station features classic graduation themed songs and favorites of the past 4 years. A mix across genres, some cool, some clichéd but all to celebrate the turning of the tassel and the tossing of the cap as a rad grad! You’ll hear tracks like “Best Day Of My Life”, “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Young Forever”.

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I dig all things ‘60s: garage punk, obscure psych, Stax and Motown soul stompers. My first CD purchases were REM’s Out of Time and Boyz II Men’s Cooleyhighharmony. I still own both! I’m pretty much immersed in music – hitting up local record shops, catching live shows at crusty dives, and DJing around town at various venues and bars.